1. "Price of Admission" Turnpike Troubadours. Some of their finest songwriting to date. My favorite band of my generation just keeps slaying.
2. "Bleeds" Wednesday. I love everything about this band/extended scene. "Pick Up That Knife" is my song of the year.
3. "Big Ugly" Fust. Part of the Asheville scene as well. One of the most straight up "alt country" albums in a minute.
4. "Snocaps" Snocaps. Basically a Waxahatchee record. Which is awesome for me.
5. "Getting Killed" Geese. A fucked up train wreck with inexplicable hooks. Like the best indie stuff of the past few years, I feel like it's chasing Ditch-era Neil Young. In particular "Vampire Blues".
6. "Black Dog & The Wandering Boy" James McMurtry. Took me awhile to accept this wasn't quite Horses & the Hounds level, but there are some incredible songs here.
7. "Little Crosses" Joe Stamm Band. These dudes just keep doing excellent heartland rock.
8. "Bad Reputation" Lance Roark. Turnpike's understudy with a batch of impossibly catchy, well, heartland rock.
9. "Corn Queen" Hailey Whitters. Stupid catchy country that's just polished enough to get radio play, but the songwriting is so far beyond anything else on the radio. She writes about the rural Midwest as well as anyone.
10. "Snipe Hunter" Tyler Childers. I don't think it's his masterpiece, but it is undeniably the most fun record he's ever put out. If you can't jam "Eatin' Big Time" or "Bitin' List", we can't be friends.